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MigrationUnited States of America

Trump's Wall and the Border Crisis

August 30, 2024

More than 2.4 million people crossed the border between the US and Mexico illegally last year.

https://p.dw.com/p/4k6F2
USA Eagle Pass | Trump besucht die Grenze zwischen den USA und Mexiko
Image: Go Nakamura/REUTERS

In both countries, the authorities are struggling to cope with these record-breaking numbers. Illegal migration is a big issue in the US elections.

Trump's Wall and the Border Crisis
Image: Go Nakamura/REUTERS

Last winter, thousands of women, men and children hoping to start a new life in the United States, were left stuck at the US-Mexico border in freezing temperatures. US authorities estimate that some two million people have been crossing the border illegally for three years in a row now. That is more than ever before. Some people are calling it an invasion and blaming Joe Biden's administration. Others say the rise in asylum seekers is due to the growing security crisis in South and Central America and elsewhere. Immigration is set to be one of the big issues in November's US elections.

Trump's Wall and the Border Crisis
Image: Cheney Orr /REUTERS

The documentary accompanies migrants illegally crossing the Rio Grande, the river which forms border between Mexico and the US state of Texas, as well as the volunteers who give them food when they arrive on US soil. We also meet candidates and supporters of the Republicans and the Democrats. On the Mexican side of the border, the cartels now control the human trafficking business. The traffickers have to share their profits with local drug barons. Anyone who refuses comes to a sticky end. Mexican archivist and historian Oscar Lyman occasionally sees traffickers placing ladders up against Trump's border barrier to help migrants get over into the US. He has experienced many migration crises over the last three decades and seen their impact on campaigning. He says that there has never been so much hate directed at migrants as in the 2024 elections.
 

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